Plasma sprayed ceramic coatings for electric machine insulation

As weight sensitive industries such as the automotive and aerospace industries seek to electrify powertrains, the demand for high power density electric machines is rising. Significant resources have been dedicated to improving machine architectures, but the machine architectures are not the only limiting factors. Insulation technology limits power density by reducing the maximum allowable temperature and thus, the current density in the machine. To overcome this, new insulation materials need to be capable of resisting higher temperatures, resist partial discharge induced damage, and have a higher thermal conductivities than existing materials. Ceramics meet these requirements, but they are not easily adapted to machine slot insulation due to challenges in fabricating thin ceramic structures. This thesis proposes using plasma sprayed ceramic coatings to apply a layer of ceramic insulation directly to machine stator cores. While these coatings are used extensively to improve mechanical degradation characteristics in other industries, their electrical reliability has not been extensively evaluated. In this thesis, simulations are performed to estimate the improvements in the thermal performance of a motorette samples, and then an isothermal aging test is performed to determine if plasma sprayed ceramic coatings have thermal endurance comparable to conventional machine groundwall insulation materials. It concludes with a summary of the novel contributions to the field of electric machine design and describes possible avenues of future research to further investigate the feasibility of these coatings to improve electric machine power density.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Wolhaupter, Brian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Haran, Kiruba S

• Electric Machines
• Insulation
• Ceramics
• Plasma Spray

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Brian Wolhaupter

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127306

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F127306